(Breakfast at our camp site: Nata Lodge, Botswana)

After eating we pack up and set out for Francistown. Information about the best route from Francistown through northeastern Botswana to South Africa was lacking while the trip was being planned in the US. This was important because it did not appear that there were many places to stay overnight in this section of Botswana and it was difficult to estimate how long it might take to get to our next destination in South Africa -- Kruger National Park. We have reservations at Punda Maria Rest Camp in Kruger and at an intermediate stopover at Dongola Ranch near Messina. We have allowed three days to drive to Punda Maria because I have learned not to underestimate distances and times in Africa.

Once again the GPS and the excellent software from Tracks4Africa are invaluable for answering questions that the maps and guidebooks could not. We learn first-hand that this section of Botswana is very prosperous and the roads excellent. After shopping for groceries in Francistown and refueling we decide to set out for Selebi-Phikwe. Our plan has been to sleep in the truck if necessary -- but we have learned that the thought of just stopping along the road and setting up a makeshift camp is enough to make Will or any South African cringe. The truck might attract the wrong sort of attention because it suggests affluence (relatively speaking) although our "kit" was decidedly middle-of-the-road -- car camping being a very popular pastime here (see the comments about the American West below).

(Traffic and stores in Francistown: northeastern Botswana gives a visitor a strong sense of prosperity and modernity)

The excellent roads are paved and in good repair the entire distance. We decide to stay at the Syringa Lodge in Selebi-Phikwe. We are provided rooms readily without reservations. Will is eager to take Jeff to the Spur Restaurant at the Lodge: the American West motif is a lot of fun for Will and me. We try to understand (and have some fun with Jeff while deconstructing) the African take on this bit of US history and it is notable that native American symbols (rather than "pioneer") predominate. There are a lot of parallels (at least on a superficial level) in the history of the US and southern Africa -- but in a Spur (a familiar chain in southern Africa) the decorations feature local versions of native American themes. The story of native Americans has resonance here, and not just among black Africans but among white Africans too.

The menu is a version of what you might find in the US at a mid-range restaurant chain: we like the salad bar -- a rarity here where meat is all-important. And allow me to add -- in a little bit of pop cultural observation -- that the decorations are fanciful at best and are similar to what you might see in a European movie about the American West (Winnetou again).

We are not sure about the status of the mine or mines in Selebi-Phikwe but our sense is that it is in operation and contributing to the obvious economic well-being here. We have now also come to understand that the town is near an area (the Tuli Block) that contains a number of lodges and game preserves that cater to the well-to-do. But we are very tired by the long hours on the road and preoccupied because Will has lost his appetite for dinner and apart from his fatigue is definitely ill. So exploring the town and the local area is "out".

Because he does not seem to be acutely ill -- we decide to take a wait-and-see approach and we head back to our rooms.

Labels: Francistown, Nata Lodge, Selebi-Phikwe

¶ 10:29 AM